Ishant believes the wicket won't change much during the course of the next two days.

Ishant Sharma, whose superb post-lunch spell injected the game with life, said that he did not yet consider himself the leader of the pack of Indian pace bowlers. “I don’t think like that. We are of the same age group, so I don’t consider myself the leader. When playing Test matches, since I have played more I just share my experience.”

According to the bowler, it was still too early to say whether India could win this. “There is a long way to go and cricket is a very funny game. As you see, we had taken those six wickets and the last two partnerships made those many runs. So, we have to keep bowling in the right areas and wait for things to happen.”

Asked about Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s success with the new ball, Ishant replied, “Bhuvi [Bhuvneshwar] is a tremendous bowler who uses the conditions very well, be it with the new ball or old ball. We cannot control the surface here, because we are touring England and England is not touring India. We have to make the best use of the circumstances and Bhuvi [Bhuvneshwar] and the rest of us are trying to do that.”

Ishant did not think the wicket would change much during the course of the next two days. “The pitch will get slower, but I don’t think it will change much more than that.”

When asked about the timing of a possible declaration down the line, Ishant responded that it was the captain’s decision and not his. “In these sorts of wickets it is very difficult to say how many overs are required to bowl the opposition out.”